During the May 18, 2014 Spring UnCorked barrel tour in the Applegate Valley, local metal artist Cheryl Garcia will be hosting another of her hugely-popular art shows at Red Lily Vineyards. The Review caught-up with Cheryl as she was in full production mode creating her enchanting metal art pieces for the show.
“This will be my third year doing the UnCorked show at Red Lily…it’s called, “Pulse,” and is inspired by the return of springtime energy. I plan to have 36-40 small, medium and large pieces for sale ranging in price from $35-$3500,” Cheryl says. In year’s past, all of her pieces have sold-out during UnCorked, a testament to having been recently named “Best Local Artist” by Southern Oregon Magazine.
The metal artist first met Red Lily Vineyard owners Les and Rachel Martin after Cheryl’s now-famous poppy sculptures were “planted” on the Quail Run Vineyard slopes on the outskirts of Jacksonville. “While building Red Lily, they saw my poppies and asked me to create their Bolander Lily along with a 60-bottle metal wine tree… both of which are permanent outdoor art attractions at the vineyard. At my first UnCorked show, I displayed my metal art in their tasting barn and have been back every year!”
This May’s event will feature Cheryl’s art installed throughout the vast vineyard property. “It’s an amazing property and will take me about a month to set-up for the show. I plan to show small, medium and large-scale pieces and will have lots of smaller grape leaf pieces, too. My wall hangings pieces are inspired by various bird images seen in nature…all celebrating the return of spring.”
Much of Cheryl’s work includes functional garden pieces, most with bird, animal, garden and water themes. She notes, “Functional outdoor art is rare…I so enjoy creating something from raw metal like a garden gate or weather vane and oeno-sphere’s from repurposed wine barrel hoops…something that brings joy to our everyday lives.”
The artist also takes great pride in utilizing and repurposing raw materials such as steel reclaimed from Hurricane Katrina and 12-foot steel water pipes reclaimed from the Butte Falls water system. Watching Cheryl work with blow torch in-hand is awe-inspiring. “I love working with serious raw materials like steel, aluminum, brass and bronze…my favorite of course is steel since it’s the most flexible, which I like heating and bending to create my art.” In her studio, Cheryl admits, “it’s like 4th of July everyday with sparks flying everywhere!” With temperatures reaching 2400 degrees, another favorite metal-working tool is her plasma cutter, enabling her to blow through steel like butter as well as delicately write and draw images on the metal.
Come meet the artist at Red Lily Vineyard and enjoy a full day of wine tasting at 19 other vineyards during this year’s Spring UnCorked Barrel Tour. Cheers!
Purchase tickets for Applegate Valley UnCorked at www.applegatewinetrail.com.
Posted May 12, 2014